The Interwoven Life: “God Has a Plan for Your Life and Will Put It Together Piece by Piece Until It Is Complete”.

By Gary L. Vernon

He preached his first sermon from a Bible Story Book, at age seven, traveled in the summers by bus to conduct revivals at age twelve, pastored his first church at age sixteen and has served as a full time pastor for forty six years.
He shares experiences from every stage of his life, some comical, some inspirational, some miraculous, and some heartbreaking. This is your opportunity to get a bird’s eye view into the real life and experiences of a pastor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664221956

Gary L. Vernon

He was born into a family with ten ministers and was raised in a pastor’s home. From early childhood he knew he was destined to become the next minister. He always had a passion for God and for ministering to the weak, the sick, the hurting and especially the lost. He is known for having the heart of a shepherd.

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Copyright © 2021 Gary L. Vernon.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2194-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2195-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021901928

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/09/2021

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

GOD, I’M ONLY SEVEN

INSPIRATIONAL GEMS

THROUGH THE YEARS

FUNNY THINGS HAPPEN IN THE MINISTRY

RECOGNITION OF THREE SPECIAL MENTORS

THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE INTERWOVEN LIFE

God has a plan for your life.

What happens when you surrender yourself fully to Him?

This is the story of a seven- year- old boy who was called to preach and whose life

was amazingly interwoven by God through over 60 years of ministry.

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For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and

not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

INTRODUCTION

God has a plan for your life, interweaving strand by strand, until it has been interwoven to completion. God first spoke to me at age seven and I preached my first sermon shortly thereafter. By age 12, I was traveling by bus during the summer months conducting revivals throughout churches in Virginia.

At 15 years of age, I was asked to briefly fill my first pulpit in Buena Vista, Virginia. By age 16, due to the death of the former pastor, I was sent to pastor a small country church in Winfall, Virginia. Following that assignment, I would pastor Brookneal, Danville, Poplar Camp and Lynchburg, all in Virginia.

Over this span of time we have watched God do some amazing things. This book contains many of our life experiences in short story format.

It is my hope that you will enjoy reading these reflections and that you will find this book an inspiration to you on your journey through life. God has a plan for you and He has already begun to weave the strands of your life together.

GOD, I’M ONLY SEVEN

There was nothing unusual about this day. I had played all day like any seven-year-old would do. It came bed time and my two brothers and I had moved into a room downstairs due to the extremely cold weather. Normally, I would go right to sleep but this night I was restless and feeling like something unusual was happening. My brothers had gone to sleep. Suddenly I clearly heard my name called. Actually, it was a little frightening. I thought one of my brothers had called me. I decided to try going to sleep again. As I closed my eyes I heard that same voice calling out my name. It frightened me so badly that I got up and went to my parents’ room and asked if they had called me. My parents did not realize what was happening in the life of their youngest son and told me to go back to bed and try going to sleep. As I closed my eyes a third time I heard the voice call my name again but this time the voice said, I am calling you to preach. I knew Who this was by then and I remember saying to God, I can’t do this. I’m just a seven-year-old kid! This calling was one of the most dramatic things that ever happened in my life. It set my future life in motion and I knew God had a plan for me.

Many times, when I was tired, distressed or frustrated I always ended up going back to that night and it always brought re-assurance. Your calling may not happen the way God called me, but we need to